Writing is easy enough for me, and honesty in my writing is important, but sometimes it isn’t easy to write the complete truth.
For example, when I write a review of something I will be honest – I’d never say it was great if I hated it. I’d always be polite and as constructive as possible rather than slamming it, but I will say if it isn’t up to scratch.
But what about when the less-than-pleasing item is owned/created by someone you want to impress? It gets tough because I want to be respected for honesty and feel the responsibility that if I review something it could influence other people’s use of money & time.
In the past, I have managed this by pointing out all the positives of the item and only mentioning the weaknesses – and obviously not saying anything like ‘great read’ or ‘value for money’. Once I reviewed a book which I found to be fairly boring, but it’s got a lot to do with the fact I don’t like that genre much either. My review commented on how it used simple language and was true to its genre with a few unexpected twists. That way, someone liking the genre would read the book but others wouldn’t bother – win win for everyone!
I used to review records for a music magazine, it feels like years ago now. I had the same honesty policy that you refer to here.
There’s no point in being nice to make everyone happy, you’ve got to be honest about what you really thought, while still leaving room for the listeners, or readers, out there to make their own decisions.
A reviewers job, i think, is to make everything easier for the audience. There are millions of songs and books out there and it’s difficult to decide what’s for you. A reviewer helps make that decision, not make it for you.
Thanks Katherine – I love the way you explained a reviewer’s role